A blog about brews, pubs and travel

South of the Border

I’ve mentioned before that I had a wish to freshen up my German. The last time I had any formal lesson in that language was some time in the late Seventies, and I have rarely used it apart from touristic purposes. A number of visits to Germany and Austria over the last five years or so have, however, wet my appetite to get a better grasp of the language.

So I enrolled in a course at the Goethe Insititut here in Oslo. Back to school every Wednesday from five to quarter past eight. Plus homework. Grammar, vocabulary, the lot.

It is challenging, but it’s great fun.

I ahve even started ordering books from the German amazon shop. Short stories to begin with, but I decided to have a look at more beer related titles in German, too. Lots of home brew books, some German translations of English language books, crime novels set in hop yards or Kneipen.

Some beer history, too, like this book about brewing in South Tyrol, a German-speaking region in Italy. There were 27 breweries in the area in 1880, a number that dwindled down to just one during a century of war, closed borders and taxation that favoured other beverages. But the book also covers the birth of small scale brewing in recent years, with portraits of the new brewpubs.

No plans of a visit to there area for now, but I think I’ll try to ask for a review copy.

But there is more.

Amazon.com and amazon.co.uk will not surprise you by giving unorthodox suggestions when you search for beer books. They will recommend pub guides and atlases, Brew like a monk and How to Start a Brewery Even if You’re not interested in Beer.

Amazon.de has a broader approach.

Sure, you have a guide to the most beautiful beer gardens of Bavaria, but they also have the Dirndl Sexy Romance series.

But even if I was tempted, these Kindle tales of lust during the Oktoberfest are only available in Germany. Maybe it’s for the best.